With the advent of the benzene-toluene-C.sub.8 aromatics fraction (known and hereinafter referred to as BTX) as the principal raw material in the manufacture of petrochemicals, outstripping ethylene in this regard, and the increased demand for aromatics as a component in gasoline to increase its octane rating and thus reduce or eliminate the need for lead, which has been under fire as a pollutant, aromatics processes availed of in the past have come under close scrutiny with an eye toward improving process economics, which can be translated into, among other things, the use of less apparatus and decreased heat requirements.